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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-03-18 PRC Packet AGENDA CITY OF MAPLEWOOD PARK AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING Wednesday, March 18, 2009 7:00p.m. Council Chambers - Maplewood City Hall 1830 County Road BEast 1. Call to Order 2. RollCall 3. Approval of Agenda 4. Approval of Minutes a. January 28, 2009 5. Visitor Presentations 6. Public Comment on Lake Links Trail - Proposed McKnight to Bellaire Segment 7. Spoon Lake Preserve 8. Lions Park Survey 9. 2008 Parks and Recreation Commission Annual Report 10. New Business a. Fish Creek/CoPar (Commissioner Fischer) b. Greenways & Open Spaces Task Force for Passive Recreation (Commissioner Peterson) c. Spring Cleanup (Commissioner Maas) 11. Commissioner Presentations 12. Staff Presentations a. Legacy Park Play Lot b. Community Gardens 13. Commissioner Comments 14. Adjourn - (9:30 p.m.) Next meeting - April 15, 2009 CITY OF MAPLEWOOD PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, January 28, 2009 7:00 p.m. COUNCIL CHAMBERS - MAPLEWOOD CITY HALL 1830 COUNTY ROAD BEAST 1. CALL TO ORDER - Chair Peter Fischer Chair Fischer indicated eight commissioners were present so there was q 2. ROLL CALL Present Chair Peter Fischer Commissioner Julie Binko Commissioner Craig Brannon Commissioner Donald Christianson Commissioner Carolyn Peterson Commissioner Bruce Roman Commissioner Kim Schmidt Commissioner Therese Sonn Staff DuWayne Kon "" Doug Tau Ginny G. 3. onal agenda items to discuss. Commissioner Peterson asked to . er Brannon made a motion to approve the agenda, seconded by by a unanimous vote. 4. and said she would be resigning from the Parks and Recreation 009. She said the key issues of concern were: . the Ie transparency in the city; . dissent from the commission was seen as an "affront". She said she was accused of being open minded and was not respected for it. . Was disallowed from a task force by a city council member because she did not fit his idea of what group processes should be. He said he had hired commission members based on geographical locations; however there was no one representing her neighborhood. . She felt there were no democratic processes within the city, and . she had received personal verbal threats and accusations. 1 Commissioner Fischer replied he sent a letter to Ms. Binko regarding a sensitive issue. Ms. Binko had e-mailed information to the commission and was sent private clarification as to the accuracy of the information. Chair Fischer asked Director Konewko if he would circulate Ms. Binko's letter to the commission. Director Konewko said he would include the letter as part of the minutes, it would be reflected in the record, and the commissioners would receive a copy. Chair Fischer said he wanted to be sure this information was forwarded to the city council so they would send a letter of appreciation to Ms. Binko. 5. OPEN MEETING LAW meeting law. He said e said public , be made usiness. Commissioner Brannon asked if the commission park t Commissioner Christianson asked whether t , " uld be arranged for park tours. Attorney Kantrud said they sh other alternatives. . it be carpooling or arranging Commissioner Sonne meeting times be upda to be televised. She requested that changes in d; however meeting times were to be posted in be treated the same as telephone conversations. Attorney K conversation b involved in conve meeting or quorum. e not the same as telephone calls, in that e-mails started as nd could possibly move into "serial e-mails" where many people were thing was discussed relating to public business, it would technically be a Commissioner Schmidt asked if public e-mail comments should be forwarded to all members of the commission. Attorney Kantrud said this wouldn't be any different than someone posting a comment at meetings, so it was not covered under the law. He suggested the Chair of the commission reply to e-mail messages. Commissioner Schmidt asked whether social gatherings between commission members constituted a meeting. Attorney Kantrud said the document was referring to public functions, such as basketball games or concerts. 2 Attorney Kantrud suggested having additional informational materials available at meetings. Director Konewko said they always had agendas and extra copies of packets available at meetings. Commissioner Brannon said information was also available on an overhead projector for public viewing. Commissioner Sonnek asked whether board and commission interviews were considered open meetings. Attorney Kantrud said interviews would be considered open meetings. Interview finalists, however, were covered under a different law. treat the open meeting law seriously. He said there may have been s violated, and so it was best "to err on the side of caution". He then on's question about city council meetings. He said the meetings started at 6:30 p.m., and the only I on the agenda they could not discuss at that time were "public hearings". He also suggested that the commission develop new interview questions. Commissioner Sonnek was concerned about applicants having unfair televised. Commissioner Brannon suggested distributing questions to ca interview before the meeting. Commissioner Peterson said she attended a city cou before the 7:00 p.m. start time. r meeting Attorney Kantrud said she should have the..~L Commissioner Peterson asked whether sub Attorney Kantrud said if subc would not be liable under t . Commissioner Sonn present at a meeting. seats on a commission, or members that were as part of a quorum. John Nephew, 628 County Road BEast, Maplewood, Minnesota Mr. Nephew said the e-mail problem was covered in training for council members. He suggested the city manager notify the council and the item could be included on the next agenda. In the case of a commission, he said it would be appropriate to copy Director Konewko and/or the Chair of the commission. Attorney Kantrud said these were good comments. He suggested using common sense and conscientiousness regarding the law, and if they had additional questions, he would come and speak again. 3 7. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The corrections and additions for the December 17, 2008 minutes were: Commissioner Peterson said the minutes read "you can add trees on the eastern edge of County Road D as a buffer". She said it should have been "the northern edge". She also said that Chair Fischer said "the trail option through the preserve was dropped because of the wetlands". She did not understand that it was dropped; she thought it would be investigated by staff. Commissioner Peterson said the minutes stated that she would like to "run all this by the advisory task force". She said she had suggested that they meet with the advisory task force. She also said the phrase about "meeting with the nei ors" should be removed. Chair Fischer suggested the phrase"run this by the advisory task force" with the technical advisory task force" be combined into one Commissioner Schmidt said Commissioner Brannon indicate crime incidents... there was some intimidation involved"; it intimidating the residents. She said she was quoted to been ... "mostly for neighborhood use". She also said to residents about . ner Brannon was se" should have council orward with plac of a tot lot in e "the sculptures tend to be more odern designs lend themselves to be t lot on Mississippi Street, so loring a sculpture park"; he had rk subcommittee said they nominated Therese mbers of the committee. He said their names 9. E PLAN PRESENTATION Chair Fischer said Jennifer Haskamp was present to explain the Comprehensive Plan process and how they moved forward with the Parks and Recreation and Environmental and Natural Resources chapters. On December 8, 2009 the document was submitted for adjacent jurisdictional review to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), the Watershed District, the county, and other entities. There was a six month review process in which jurisdictions were allowed to examine the document. The city council had directed the Park and Recreation, Environmental and Natural Resources, and Historical commissions to inspect the document to make sure it reflected their goals and objectives. Once the six month period ended, it was sent to the Metropolitan Council. If the jurisdictions returned their comments within one month, the six month period could be shortened. Following the Metropolitan Council's sixty to ninety-day review process, the document would be sent back to Maplewood for review. Depending on whether there were major or 4 minor changes, it would be settled at the planning commission or city council level. She said the document should be in place by September, 2009. Commissioner Peterson stated they planned to meet with the Environmental and Resource Commission tonight and she had not studied the document. Ms. Haskamp said there was a six to nine month period when they would be able to discuss the document. Ginny Gaynor spoke about the Environmental Commission's dedication to Maplewood's commitment to protect natural reSources in the city. The vision for this commission was a commitment to protect, connect, restore and manage their eco-system's species. They were looking at natur ources in four categories: . natural area green ways, . local habitats, . active parks and trails, . items on an issue by issue basis. s areas of public e wetland " south They had identified four natural area greenways in Maple or private habitat. They were the northern chain of la greenway near the St. Paul Priory to Beaver Lake, th Maplewood. Ms. Gaynor said two of the greenways co the greenways, they cared deeply about in backyard neighborhood habitats protected, b..... were many different types in Maplewood. Scalt~~d th individual local habitats. The 'recognize'li't The 3M wetland was a 10 ntration areas in south Maplew enway the city. They wante ources i..by issue. The city had programs for storm water management, a tree pr emenl.jRI~.n, wetland ordinances, and other programs, which included im aired '~:';jDj!)Jals, wetland buffering, sustainable yard care, toxic waste sit e res H d r g@phs covering natural resources in the Parks and Recreations . Lail\l~~ar these issues had evolved into a new commission. ined the parks, trails, and open spaces, they realized how important all ghout the city. where the Capstone Project ideas and comments would be incorporated. Ginny Gaynor said the Capstone Project occurred after the Comprehensive Plan was implemented. The suggestions would be incorporated after the Comprehensive Plan was approved. Commissioner Schmidt asked about the pinch points and if there was a plan for them. Ginny Gaynor said pinch points were public interest projects for the future. For example, when changes were made on a major highway, they would be able to achieve a little more shoreline; or when working on a bridge, they would allow a little more land for animal crossing under the bridge. 5 Commissioner Sonnek referred to the sentence. .. "man and dog spread seed". She said geese in greenways and parks were problematic. She also said developing of park spaces in the future could present problems with park development versus park wildlife preservation. Ginny Gaynor said the Environmental and Natural Resource plan had a section on active parks. They wanted to acknowledge that parks were an important part of their green infrastructure; and would only revert from turf into natural space if areas were not being used. Commissioner Fischer said there were large unused areas in parks. If they would restore these areas, ten years from now there may be a need to make the parks active again. e the "big picture" in terms of natural resources; not just what the [age residents to do. Jennifer startediWiih the Parks planning piece, she wanted to note that Maplewoo suburb in the Twin Cities that had done something of this magnitude. She said natu ry important and warranted attention, even in a fully developed community. She nd everyone on the project. Working with an extensive goal setting process, they create' hensive set of goals followed by ideas to meet them over the next twenty years. These included e ical, restoration, and management goals focused on the parks aspect of natural resources, plan management acquisition, and development. They focused on redeveloping the parks for the future with an emphasis on trail planning; not only for recreation but also as a mode of transportation. After working on goals and objectives, they concentrated on existing conditions and different types of parks. Next they went into the plan component for the next twenty years. They wanted to have a good idea about what preserves, parks and open spaces encompassed, and organized them by neighborhood geographical areas and boundaries. They discussed different areas in terms of schools and parks that were outside the city limits, which could be used as part of a network. There was discussion about active versus passive parks and trails to achieve a good balance. There was a summary of the work that was done by the advisory panel and the Parks commission, and the plan ended with a section on how they would proceed over the next several years. Ginny Gaynor said the Comprehensive Plan had additional protection for D. dictated what activities would be appropriate. There was nothing in the areas, so there were no restrictions against removing natural areas hood preserves, which with regard to natural fields, for example. Jennifer Haskamp said when an active or passive park cross, active part away from the greenway. Discussions with bot ' identifying greenway areas that had ecological significa . with the greenway systems. . they would cluster the the best solution, active parks Ginny Gaynor said they were strategic area Commissioner Peterson said t the last areas to be develo , nd south Maplewood was one of is area. Ginny Gaynor said th planning staff was exploring this area. would be developed. 6 Commissioner Sonnek asked about no net loss of acreage, indicating that it only was mentioned in the open space areas of the plan. Commissioner Peterson said the document referred to managing and maintaining only the amount of park and open space land that the city could maintain for its highest use. She did not believe this agreed with the no net loss policy and said they should not sell the park or open space plan because future generations would depend on it. Ms. Haskamp said the no net loss policy was applied to neighborhood preserves, not to the open spaces or parks; the city has protections in place for those areas. If someone wanted to ge a park for another use, a Comprehensive Plan amendment would have to pass, which requir r-fifths vote by the council. They felt that this was enough protection to move forward. Commissioner Pe meetings during the Maplewood Community Commissioner Peterson asked about neighborhood service areas." oc within a half mile from an active or passive park which was no jly, county or' said residents should be park. Jennifer Haskamp said this was an objective to have a Commissioner Peterson said the commission considere neighbors wanted to live within a half mile of a park. They the residents wanted a playground. emane Park bec e the nature center was nearby; however Jennifer Haskamp said the plan had general many children, the residents would possibly s Jennifer Haskamp said the. in the year; however th and Natural Resourc spaces, except about ument commission had reviewed earlier of December on the entire plan, and the Parks s little discussion about the parks, trails and open ified. d, vot 'and consolidated goals at their last meeting, and staff had e of the items on the list were policy related and could be worked into mmunity gardens and long term funding were two goals, and the er goal could be combined with fitness and well being. Commissioner Christianson said the Maplewood Community Center goal was about how much involvement they should have. He also said they should receive periodic status reports on the center. Chair Fischer said their role in the community center would become one of their goals for the year. The top goals after each member voted were community gardens, working with other commissions, receiving more feedback from staff and other groups, long term funding and grants, the Maplewood Community Center, and the dog park issue. 7 Commissioner Peterson said green corridors should be one of their goals. She said grants from federal, state, and the Department of Natural Resources were available. Chair Fischer said the CoPar project which involved the area overlooking the Mississippi could become a park, which would protect the greenways. He asked how everyone felt about this item becoming a goal. Commissioner Christianson suggested they discuss this in the joint meeting with the Environmental and Natural Resource commission. Commissioner Schmidt said they could incorporate the green corridor concept to Joy Park or some of the other nature projects that they had discussed in the past. Commissioner Christianson suggested they work on a few ofthe items Manager Taubman said the goals were broad, and they needed t Commissioner Sonnek said they should add a goal to revi Chair Fischer said they should put interview question Commissioner Christianson said community gardens and they research these topics with other com. .. s. report on this at their next , elwood Avenue by a church dens there. dog park, and community gardens were three i.,ommunity Center, work with other commissions '.'. . mine how they could meet their goals with the goal was to meet with other groups. 'ng with other groups should be under "tasks". in IfY:Rr,ing groups for open forums regarding programming and fitness. If an hour earlier to make time for this. g term funding was a problem they have had for years, and was e discussing long term funding in terms of a referendum or sales tax. Commissioner Schmidt' she would like to have fund raising on an agenda for a future meeting. There were many ways they could raise extra money. Chair Fischer said they could explore different communities regarding how long term funding was done. He said grants and fund raising could be under "topics". Bruce Brannon said they should leave long term funding as a top goal and put grants under "other projects and topics". Commissioner Sonnek said they could classify grants and long term funding as "recurring grants vs. individual grants". Recurring grants would be long term funding. 8 Commissioner Peterson said she would gather information on grants and they could re-evaluate this in June or July of 2009. Commissioner Peterson said she had thought about picnic shelters in parks. She indicated the city of Roseville rented out their picnic shelters, bringing revenue to the city. Manager Taubman said this was one of his goals, to build a picnic shelter for Wakefield Park. He said it would cost approximately $25,000 to $40,000 to build it in-house. There were restrooms available there. Commissioner Peterson mentioned band shells or amphitheaters; they had d' the Maplewood library. . Chair Fischer summa number of residents in comment line on the bo modified, om 11. Commissioner Peterson said greenway corridors could be worked 0, . was available, because she thought there were grants available fo ' Chair Fischer said the top two categories would become t report. The rest of the list would be topics and projects would have a list of their goals and approve them at th Manager Taubman said atthe November survey was included with their packets, and were planning to mail the surveys sometime in. ted two ideas for Lion's Park. A approve the survey. They took notes regarding the changes. ould be changed to have a statement regarding e eliminated, and they would add a general nek made a motion to approve the survey as motion carried by a unanimous vote. uld ho heir first subcommittee meeting on February 4, 2009 at ould like the Environmental and Natural Resources Commission to be ing a member of the commission to attend the meeting. Chair Fischer asked Manager Taubman to send an e-mail to the Environmental and Natural Resources Commission informing them of the meeting. They were hoping that someone would attend the meeting or respond to the e-mail and come to their next meeting. 13. APPLYING FOR GRANTS This item was covered earlier in tonight's meeting. 14. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS 9 Commissioner Christianson said she had not commented about Ms. Binko's letter. She said she sensed a certain amount of anger towards Commissioner Fischer, however she thought he prepared well for the meetings. There was a need to keep things moving, and she thought he did a good job of chairing the commission. Commissioner Roman said they had not held elections for chair and vice chair, and that should be scheduled. Chair Fischer said they would wait until February, 2009 after the new commissioners were appointed. Commissioner Schmidt had a comment about e-mails sent to commissioners a city staff. She asked if their website could devise a statement that stated citizens should follow th rules with e-mails as when they were speaking at a meeting. She said some of the comment een very inappropriate. Manager Taubman rela reported that the co Gardens, and Bruentri 15. STAFF PRESENTATIONS a) 2008 P Commissioner Sonnek said she would like to reaffirm that Chair Fi. need to move along in the meetings was hard on members, b ,e meetings Chair Fischer said after hearing comments on e-mails, commission meetings so members were not concerne' information from Mr. Kantrud very helpful, and it would Commissioner Peterson said e-mails about. Fischer. s Trail- they would have updates for next meeting. 18. ADJOURN Commissioner Christianson made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Commissioner Brannon. The motion carried by a unanimous vote. The next meeting was scheduled for February 18, 2009. 10 Together We Can March 4, 2009 RE: Lake Links Trail Improvements, City Project 08-16 Dear Map1ewood Resident, The Lake Links Trail is an important east -west regional trail corridor that includes a segment which extends across the northern portion of the City of Map1ewood between Little Canada and Century Avenue. Portions of this trail system have already been completed while others are being planned for future construction. The City has been studying the segment of the Lake Links Trail between McKnight Road and Bellaire Avenue since early last fall. As of the January 2009 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting the Commission is considering two alignments. The exhibit on the reverse side of this letter details the two proposed alignments. One alignment follows County D to Bellaire Avenue and south to Lydia. The other proposed alignment follows Lydia Avenue to Il!;llaire Avenue. The City of Maple wood Parks and Recreation Commission will be reviewing the proj<;ct and receiving public input on the improvements at their March meeting. The meeting will be held at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 in the council Chambers at City Hall. This is an opportunity for you to hear more about the project and to voice your opinions and/or concerns. . . If you are not able to attend the meeting, but would like to discuss the project in greater detail, please call me at (651) 249-2120. Sincerely, ~~~ Doug Tau1;Jman City of Maplewood Parks Manager OFFICE OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMEN"[' 651-249-2300 FAX: 651-249-2319 MAPLEWOOD, MN 55109 CITY OF MAPLEWOOD 1830 COUNTY ROAD BEAST AGENDA REPORT TO: FROM: SUBJECT: DATE: Parks and Recreation Commission Doug Taubman, Park and Recreation Manager Lake Links Trail ImprovementslMcKnight to Bellaire March 11, 2009 Introduction At the October 15, 200S meeting, the Parks and Recreation Commission reviewed three possible alignments for the segment of the Lake Links Trail between McKnight Road and Bellaire Avenue as follows: Option A - Lydia Avenue; Option B- Power Line Easement; Option C - County Road D. At that meeting the commission identified Option A as the preferred alignment. At the November 19, 200S Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, public input was received regarding the preferred Option A alignment. After receiving public input and hearing the resident concerns about the preferred alignment, the Parks and Recreation Commission requested further study. At the December 17, 200S Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, staff presented the option of extending the County Rd D alignment through the Joy Park Open Space rather than along Bellaire Avenue. The Parks and Recreation Commission requested this alignment be further investigated. At the February IS, 2009 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting the alternate route of taking the County Road D alignment through the Joy Park Open Space was discussed. The commission determined that this was not a feasible route. The commission also determined that Option B (power Line Easement) was not feasible and that we were down to Option A (Lydia Avenue) and Option C (County Road D). The commission directed staff to notify neighbors of a public hearing on the two remaining options. Background The Lake Links Regional Trail system is an important east-west regional trail corridor that extends across the northern portion of Maple wood between the City of Little Canada on the west and Century Avenue on the east. Portions oftms trail system have been completed while others are being planned for future construction. Staff is currently developing plans to complete the construction of the remaining segments. Discussion It was determined by the Parks and Recreation Commission that the alignment extending the Lake Links Trail through the Joy Park Open Space and the alignment using the power line easement were not feasible. The Parks and Recreation Commission will receive resident input and discuss the two remaining alignments. Recommendation Staff is requesting that the Parks and Recreation Commission recommend an alignment and direct staffto begin the trail development process. wdBo:r - 900~ '01 ...qw...o 6MP'llX9-V-~nv-3~V1\SlI8IHX3\!lIAO\OOV~\ 11V1lC~NIT3~Vl\OOQl\31dvl'i\~ll:l\I,^I~-:lMJ.\:~ ~ IZl '" E-<- ~~ ~ ~ ~~ ::; 0"'" ~ p::0 ~ ~~ .~ < ~d E-< ~ '" ~ ~ IZl ~ a C;I ~ .....:i ~ J '" .. ~ !11 ill '" 15.... ...J dO::;;: ::il "'I(Z a: I!' I!'''.... u eEl fit wo l!l ill ~ ~a l'; y ~ iLea: : I I : I : I : I ~~ f.I~ !;l t~~~ ~~.r !h ~Il wdn:~ - SOOZ 'OL .IO,wo'.O &Mp'nxs-~-onv-3>1V1\S1IBIHX3\:>A\o\OOV~\ llVw.-XNrr3xV1\000\\31dVn\~ll~\Il^I~-:>\\J. \:X Q <Zl\D E-<..... ~ Zob ~ 2 ~;:: !;!rrl >< E-< 0..... ~ ~o ~~ ~ 0 u ~b ~ , u ~ .. ffi ~ ~ Q ~ ~ >-l ~ 10' " ~ .. ~ !i1 ill on 15.... ...J -'e:ill 'I 'lz I!' I!' ~ffi R ClI.LlC m ~~U~ : I I : I : I : I ~~ l>~ ~ t~ h~r ;r .~ ..5 HI ~Il MEMORANDUM SUBJECT: DATE: Parks Commission Steve Love, Civil Engineer II Ginny Gaynor, Natural Resources Coordinator Stormwater Management Impacts at Spoon Lake Preserve March 10, 2009 TO: FROM: INTRODUCTION Maplewood City Council has approved the Carsgrove Area Street Reconstruction Project, which includes reconstructing streets and improving stormwater management (Attachment 1). The current drainage system provides little to no treatment of stormwater, so any treatment created as part of this project will result in an improved quality of the runoff waters to Kohlman and Gervais Lakes. The city's plan is to install two large filtration basins on this project to provide treatment of water and meet volume reduction requirements-one at the northern entrance to Spoon Lake Neighborhood Preserve (south end of Forest Street) (Attachment 2) and the other at Kohlman Park (intersection of Cypress Street and County Road C). Individual rain gardens will be offered to residents to help provide additional treatment for their properties. These basins will help meet the stormwater treatment requirements for this neighborhood. The basin at Spoon Lake Preserve will require removal of several trees so staff would like to discuss this basin with commissioners. DISCUSSION Stormwater Treatment Requirements Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District requires reconstruction projects to infiltrate 90% of the first 1" of rainfall over the disturbed or additional impervious areas. This treatment requirement is in line with current city policies for stormwater treatment and non-degradation goals. According to the Geotechnical Engineering Report, the.soils in the project area have very low hydraulic conductivity characteristics. These heavy soils do not drain well and infiltration basins are not suitable for the project area. Therefore the proposed design includes the use of filtration basins. A filtration basin is a planted basin that collects stormwater and filters it through a lose soil media. It has a drain tile along the bottom of the basin that allows the filtered water to leave the basin. The basin is designed for water to drain within 48 hours. Staff met with the watershed district to discuss the proposed stormwater design and it was decided that the filtration basins would be designed to filter an additional 30% of storm water. Our Engineering Department is proposin9 that the city construct an 8,500 sq ft filtration basin at the south end of Forest Street in the Spoon Lake Neighborhood Preserve to treat water from Brooks Court and a portion of Forest Street. Precedence of Installing Basins at Parks and Preserves Maplewood has over 50 rain gardens or filtration basins on city land. Many ofthese are at city parks and have become amenities for the parks. Basins have been installed at two Neighborhood Preserves in conjunction with street reconstruction projects. The basin at Prairie Farm was installed as a wetlandlinfiltration basin. This was a very successful installation that added great diversity of native wetland and prairie plants to the site. Ecological Impacts of a Basin at Spoon Lake Preserve Constructing a filtration basin at Spoon Lake preserve will require clearing 1/5 acre of trees. The city is exempt from complying with Maplewood's Tree Preservation Ordinance, but staff inventoried the significant trees in the proposed area of disturbance to determine impacts. The city's tree preservation ordinance defines "significant" trees as hardwoods over 6" diameter and softwoods (boxelder, elm, silver maple, cottonwood, aspen, willow) over 12". Significant Trees: . 19 hardwood trees over 6" diameter (range 6"-15.4") . 6 softwood trees over 12" diameter (range 12"-18.9") Additional Non-significant Trees: . 25 softwood trees in the 6"-11.9" diameter range . Numerous trees less than 6" were present but not counted . Numerous dead trees . Numerous buckthorn trees While there are many trees in this area, this woodland is very degraded ecologically. Most of the trees are less than 35 years old and aerial photographs from 1985 show the eastern third of the proposed basin as grassland. Many elms in this part of the site have died from Dutch Elm disease and it is likely many additional elms will die in the next several years. There is very little native ground cover in this area. Enhancements to the Preserve Rain gardens and infiltration basins have been amenities at other sites because they add diverse native plants to our parks and preserves. If a basin is installed at Spoon Lake Preserve, staff recommends that we go beyond seeding the basin and: 1. Incorporate the stormpond into the preserve by planting it as a native plant community. 2. In addition to seeding the basin, plant trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants in the basin. 3. Re-do the northern entry to the preserve. 4. Explore design concepts and innovative strategies to get the water from the street into the basin. 5. Install 230 feet of graded soft-surface trail to connect the entry to existing footpaths on the site. 6. Fix the existing stormwater erosion at the south end of Forest Street in the preserve. Staff is meeting with Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District and designers from two agencies to discuss design concepts and supplemental funding for this project to ensure the basin fits into the natural character of the site. I n particular we will discuss: 1) innovative ways to bring water into the basin and 2) whether this basin can be restored as a wooded wetland. Wooded wetlands are now rare in Maplewood and the heavy soils on this site would be conductive to this type of plant community. Evaluating Tradeoffs The city is committed to stormwater management and protection of natural resources. The only feasible option for treating stormwater from Brooks Court and this part of Forest Street is to create a filtration basin at the preserve. Without this basin, stormwater from Brooks and part of Forest will go directly into Gervais Lake, and the city will be required by Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District to make a payment into the storm water impact fund. This project will require removal of 25 significant trees at Spoon Lake Preserve, in an area that is very degraded ecologically. If we construct a filtration basin at this location, staff proposes going beyond just seeding the basin and restoring it with native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. RECOMMENDATION Staff requests that commissioners review and discuss the proposed filtration basin for Spoon Lake Neighborhood Preserve. Attachments. 1. Map of location 2. Basin design - grading 2 . 0::: Manufactured 0 Ul 1 Housing Ul Estates W 0::: 0.- >- u AVE. . f- Ul EXHIBIT 1 PROJECT LOCATION MAP vals e ~a~ ~ COUNTY ROAD C PALM CT. f- Ul 4. Kohlman .~ Park f- Ul ~ o o o :s: ......J ......J '? (\'-~ ~ t) ~ CIR. ~OR CONNOR CO~ \>--'-l\'" CT. DEMO~\ J f- Ul W 0::: o BROOKS LL CT. W -.I W o <{ SEXTANT AVE. 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"''''''''[ 'LI'[""'_."""~"""""-' ~EPARTMENTOF PllBUC WORKS '""""""""~'''''-'''... ,,,.....'" '''' "'''OF ~...",,,,,, 'l.l ENGINEERING DlVISEON ~'"'t" ... W'I't, p.,"- P.I.-S. 183llEoo'CotIo'y."""B ......_.........'.0:;'119 .,,'XX=All.=l[l!,.:<""....~ {M,)2.D_2_ r"{!SI)249-2'og OOOOC:~J CARS GROVE MEADOWS MEMORANDUM To: From: Re: Date: Parks and Recreation Commission Doug Taubman, Parks Manager Lions Park Redevelopment Survey Summary March 5, 2009 The deadline for residents to return the survey was Friday, February 18, 2009. As of March 2, 2009 52 surveys had been returned. It appears that most of surveys are from Maplewood Residents (we also surveyed a portion of Oakdale) who live within two or three blocks of Lions Park. In my opinion this is a very good response to our survey and certainly an indication of the interest the residents have in their neighborhood park. The demographic information we received in question number one indicates that approximately 40% of the responding households had at least one individual over the age of 64. Assuming two adults per responding household, 68 ofthe 104 adults were 46 years of age or older. According to the survey responses there were 34 children under the age of 18. Some ofthese children counted in the survey were grandchildren. In addition, other residents indicated that their grandchildren would use the park but did not identify them as in their household. Following is a summary of question number two relating to the frequency of park use by survey respondents: Daily - 4; Weekly -11; Monthly-15; Never- 22. It is important to note that many of the respondents who indicated they never use the park did prioritize the amenities and make positive suggestions relating to developing the park. The responses to questions three and four, in regards to what respondents like most and least about the park are listed on the attached sheets. In hindsight, question number five should have been worded differently as many respondents did not prioritize the features as indicated in the instructions. However, I believe that we did receive enough information to ascertain what the neighborhood wants in the park. The following numbers indicate the number of times an item was numbered or checked on a survey. ~ Children's play equipment ~ Park walking Trail ~ Picnic shelter* --1Q.. Little league ball field ...-1L Tee ball field -L Basketball -----.2.- Horseshoes ...-1L Open play area -----.2.- Sand volleyball court --L Four-square, hopscotch, hard court area ~ Improved landscaping (more shade trees, shrubs, flowers, rain gardens) Other *Several respondents mentioned grills along with the picnic shelter. See the attached pages for comments listed under survey questions three, four, five and six LIONS PARK - RESIDENT SURVEY 3. What do you like most about the park? Open space - 16 Playground - 11 Close to home - 17 Ball fieldslWatching ball games - 5 Park closes at dusk Place to walk dog Basketball court Like the birds Nice/safe place to walk - 2 4. What do you like least about the park? No weed control Outdated/Unsafe play equipment -15 No skating rink - 2 Not much there to use/do - 7 Walking trail is pretty small space to accommodate No picnic shelter Not enough playground equipment - 2 Garbage at the park Crossing Minnehaha Freeway to get there Not generating tax revenue Drainage/wet equipment & grounds - 9 Low usage - 2 Goose poop - too many geese Not enough trees - 3 No sitting area/benches - 3 . 5. Items that you would like to see added or improved at Lions Park: Puppet Wagon Skating/hockey rink - 7 Picnic shelter - 2 BBO grills - 2 Picnic tables More Lights - 2 Sitting area/benches - 2 Tennis court - 2 Drinking fountain Rain Garden - 3 More trash cans Benches - 2 Dog (off leash) park area Wetland restored - 2 Privacy/chain-link fence (to block Century Ave.) More trees - 2 Drinking fountain Perennials in signage box on Century Ave. Walkways down Minnehaha from Century to McKnight (so more people can safely access park) 6. Other comments relating to your use of Lions Park or the redevelopment of Lions Park: Land was originally a wetland area before development. That is why it was not developed and became park area. Hence the drainage issue is natural. Rather than fighting this, I would like to see it celebrated. Rain garden, a vernal pond area, etc. I love to see the ducks which use this as a mating/brooding area each spring. Great improvement - give the school kids something to do rather than run the streets. Use the ball field when the whole famiiy gets together and take grandchildren to the playground. Like to see a skating rink. The use of Lions Park has served us in the past while raising our children. As empty nesters the park provides no facility for use by our age group. However, with the advent of two new grandchildren, the park could again be in the picture. Used the park more when there was a skating rink. If you really wanted us to respond you would pay the postage. My back yard overlooks the park. I see rnostly kids between infants to 13 years old playing the park. So anything that would be good for this age group would be good for the park. The house on the corner of Margaret and Century (SW corner) looks terrible, makes the area look bad. It has an abundance of crap lying around and has not had siding in several years, tar paper only. Drainage issues, family-friendly area. In this recession don't you think you should be using our tax dollars for something useful or just lower our taxes. The park is worthless - there are no small children in our neighborhood. Quit wasting our money. No wonder we are in a recession. I see a lot of neighbors' kids using the playground and its equipment. I think more equipment and updated equipment would be very beneficial to the park and the neighborhood. More activities in summer, i.e., bookmobile, tournaments, etc. We have lived here almost 40 years and have always wished we had a shelter and picnic tables so we can use the park for special events with our family and neighbors and permanent barbecue grills, it would be used so much more. The only thing it is used for now is T-ball or Little League. This space should be fixed so all ages can use it. In the middle of the park, where all the water runs to, this could be made into a pond and rain garden. This would be beautiful and we could enjoy this space for years to come. We are so thankful that you are finally going to fix this park! Discontinue T-Ball field, court area, open play area, children's play equipment. Parks are wonderful for the people who live close to them. What I would also love to see are walkways down Minnehaha from Century to McKnight so more people could safely access the park. 6. Other comments relating to your use of Lions Park or the redevelopment of Lions Park: (Cont.) NO multifamily or low income (Section 8) housing!!! We have lived here for 30 years. Our own children are grown and we mainly use the park with our grandchildren. It would be nice to have a solid barrier, Le., privacy fence or chain link and landscaping to block Century Avenue for security for children and feel more park-like. Our grandchildren use park when here. I would like to see drainage issued solved with rain gardens. Improve drainage with water holding area. We used to ice skate every winter. I would use the park a lot more if it was updated (grandkids are 3 & 5). This is great if it gets redone. My dad (who is 90) watched baseball all the time down there. Lights! I've seen some drinking, drug use and sex at the park because it's so dark! Need more than 1 or 2 trash cans like we have in the summer months. It you can't afford to replace the old playground equipment could you please paint it? It looks shabby and is depressing and makes the Lions organization look bad. Like to see more equipment - big ones. Like to see an area for an off leash dog park. The wetland should be restored. Minor improvements will go a long ways. Currently we only use the park occasionally with our grandchildren. Our dog loves going up and down the slide all by herself for the last 10 years. Just needs some updates, would be nice to not be soggy or wet. I'm glad living as close as I do. I used the park a lot when my children and grandchildren were young. I would like a sitting bench. When we were young parents we all enjoyed the park - playground and ice skating. I don't think this is the time or even the year to be renovating any park? You can do whatever you want to as long as it doesn't raise our taxes. We have never used it. Parking lot. Great ideal I'd definitely use the park if it was landscaped and the equipment was updated.