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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-08-20 Parks Minutes CITYOF MAPLEWOOD PARK COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, August 20, 2008 6:30p.m. Council Chambers - Maplewood City Hall 1830 County Road BEast 1. CALL TO ORDER Commissioner Fischer announced that they do not have a quorum due to lack of attendance so they will not be able to take official action on any items. 2. ROLL CALL: Present: Commissioner Fischer Commissioner Binko Commissioner Brannon Commissioner Sonnek Staff - DuWayne Konewko, Jan Hayman, Ann Hutchinson Other - Ron Leaf Absent: Commissioner Schmidt Commissioner Christianson Commissioner Roman Commissioner Peterson Commissioner Yang 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Agenda could not be approved due to a lack of a quorum. A commissioner requested clarification on a memo dated June 12 regarding the Capital Improvement Plan. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes will be tabled due to lack of quorum. 5. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS Ron Cockriel brought up three points of interest: . He is asking the commission to support the Clean Water and Wildlife Cultural Heritage Natural Areas Amendment during the November 4 election. . . He is on the board of Friends of Maplewood Nature and he mentioned that all of Maplewood is invited to the Friends annual picnic and silent auction on September 20 at the Bruentrup Farm. . He also mentioned the 2009 Friends of Maplewood Nature calendar for sale and a photo contest. The proceeds are being used to fund a play structure and other needed amenities at the Maplewood Nature Center. 6. NATURE CENTER SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPE - REQUESTING RECOMMENDATION OF AWARD FOR BID Ann Hutchinson, lead naturalist at the Maplewood Nature Center, updated the commission on summer activities. She discussed grant awards to the nature center. She mentioned the Friends group, tree program, buckthorn events, website improvements, tree rebate program and many other nature center programs and events. Ann Hutchinson went on to give the commission a brief overview of the goals for the sustainable landscape project at the nature center. The nature center requested money from CIP funds for improvements to address storm-water run-off and other issues. The nature center sees this as an opportunity to educate folks on what they can do in their own backyards. Jan Hayman, naturalist at the Maplewood Nature Center, gave the staff a more detailed presentation on the project. She gave the commission a brief look at the landscape plan. Their goal is to design visitor friendly spaces for enjoyment and to be inspired to improve their own yards and small businesses. Their target audience is families, homeowners and small business owners. These spaces have educational elements including rainwater canal system, and native plants. She pointed out existing features. She went into detail on what they hope to do in the various areas of the plan and future projects down the road. Ann Hutchinson briefly discussed finances. They received a bid from Earthworks, which includes the detailed design. The commissioners have a copy of the Earthworks bid attached to their documents. They applied for a Watershed District grant. There is money in the CIP fund and there is a grant accepted by Ramsey County. The nature center would like a recommendation that the Park commission accept the bid from Earthworks for this sustainable landscape project at the nature center; and would like to have it go for the full amount of $82,000. DuWayne Konewko mentioned a recommendation for the base bid plus the options for a total of $82,760. Questions and Comments A commissioner inquired about the CI P funds used for this project. He wondered if the funds are already allocated. He also wondered what would happen to these funds if we did not spend them. DuWayne Konewko responded that the funds were established in 2005. Staff would have to come up with other options for these funds. A commissioner asked if these funds include the play area. Ann Hutchinson responded that these funds do not include the climbing rock just the space, grading and memorial pavers. DuWayne Konewko has noted the commissioner's comments regarding this project and will forward to City Council and they will take them under advisement. The commissioners had comments on pervious pavers. Pervious pavers cannot be used due to the high water table. There was concern of the concrete cracking. Jan Hayman commented that the concrete walkway and channel are in tandem and it is very important that they work together and that is why it needs to be concrete. Commissioner Fischer stated that they have a recommendation from staff to spend $82,760.00 with concerns with the rain planter on the west patio. We could go with the full staff recommendation or if there are concerns with the rain planter then we could recommend everything except the rain planter until the concerns are addressed and come back to that issue at a later time. DuWayne Konewko suggested that they leave the engineering features to staff and let staff, consultants and landscape experts work through that issue. We will make assurances that those issues are adequately addressed and we won't move ahead until they are. By consensus commissioners felt comfortable with the full staff recommendation. Staff commented on the timeline for the project, they would like to complete most of the work this fall. 7. CLARIFICATION ON JOINT COMMISSION MEETING Commissioner Binko asked for clarification on the memo. She is concerned about the recommendation on the back of the memo addressing an issue between the PAC dollars and CIP dollars, which states that we do not have very much money to do everything we said we were going to do. DuWayne Konewko asked if the commissioners are referring to the effective fund balance of $390,000 for 2008. He went on to further explain that the balance at the end of 2008 is projected to be in the neighborhood of $550,000. Once we remove all of the 2008 CI P projects, we would have a balance of $390,000. Staff will look into how to verify. 8. JOY PARK PHASE 1 IMPROVEMENTS - DuWayne Konewko introduced Ron Leaf who will discuss phase 1 improvements to Joy Park. Ron Leaf discussed the status of the Joy Park implementation plan and phase 1 improvements. He covered background and overview of the Joy Park Master Plan and related projects. He is requesting recommendation for approval of plans and specifications and advertising for bids. Questions and comments: Commissioner Binko asked how they are handling bike paths at the entrance and exits from parking lots. She is concerned about the safety of people. Ron Leaf responded that there are signs at driveway entrances indicating there is a crossing ahead. A commissioner was concerned that by saving oaks the view will be blocked by the drivers and bikers. Ron Leaf discussed the parking lot. The intent is to maintain the east parking lot for boat ramp users. He said there are 3 standard parking stalls plus one handicapped and there are 5 raingardens throughout the parking lot area, Ron Leaf discussed shoreline stabilization that fills in the cut area with native shoreline vegetation species and eventually an established buffer. We are locating the fishing areas where people most commonly fish. A commissioner asked if there is a map showing what type of control is being used on what areas of the shoreline or is that still up in the air. Ron Leaf responded that we are refining that, the elevation of the lake is such that the stabilization at the shoreline is going to be consistent along that entire length. What will change is the detail on how high up these set back points need to extend to get into the park. We just received some additional survey information from MN DOT on those 4 lake access points and are incorporating these into the plans. Ron Leaf mentioned that the 1 st phase of the shoreline stabilization will take place from the fence line at the west property boundary to a point where there is more extensive cattail growth, 600 feet in length. Ron Leaf mentioned the schedule, they are going to go to City Council to get authorization to advertise for bids, and they look at awarding the bid in late September. They will be starting construction in early October. Comments from Audience - Dave Johnson thanked the city and parks commission for their hard work. He feels this may help eliminate crime. He had a concern regarding a need for signage and lighting. He also inquired about the number of trees that will be taken off the trail from the cemetery to Lake Road. How much of an easement will there be? DuWayne Konewko responded that signage is part of the first phase and they have not yet looked into the lighting issue but will in the future. There will be signs listing what people can and cannot do. Dave Johnson commented on some concerns with that area being a traffic hazard. He spoke with Ken Haider, the Ramsey County Public Works director. Part of the 2004 master plan dealt with redoing the roadway between Lake Boulevard, Lydia Avenue and Joy Road intersection to Century with a staggered and berm like area that separated the roadway. People want to go back and forth from the north to the south section but cannot due to people driving too fast. They need Ramsey County's permission to make this work. DuWayne Konewko asked Dave Johnson to be the lead person to work with Ken Haider to work on this. They need to get assurance from Ramsey County to develop a joint powers agreement to take care of the alignment to Joy Road. Mrs. Johnson had a question regarding removal of trees. In this process will there be some supervision regarding the removal of trees so none are taken down unnecessarily? Duwayne Konewko responded that the city is adamant about saving as many trees as possible. Those trees removed will be replaced. Ron Cockriel had questions regarding the regional trail; the city is driving it right into the nature preserve, why are we not going along Joy Road from Lake Road up to Century? We are taking away the traffic signals due to this. Bikers will travel through parking lots. He feels it is easier to maintain if it is along the roadway. Duwayne Konewko said it is a balance, preserving trees, access, safety, so there are cases where they could not hug the road. Ron Leaf responded that one of the things they tried to do with the layout was to stay as true to the master plan as possible. The intent was to get people into the oak area to show people what the park has to offer. Scott Dudak is concerned with the 10 foot wide path along the north side of the cemetery having a connection point. Is this going to be a bike path or more of a walking path? He is also concerned with lighting in Joy Park. Will five parking stalls at the boat landing be sufficient? Ron Leaf said that they recognize those concerns and a feasibility study is being performed. DuWayne Konewko responded to a question on snow removal. The city of Maplewood will assume some responsibility of maintenance and snow removal of that trail. Mr. Miller moved in 3 years ago and feels this is a need for this area. He wondered if a trail along Century would join up to the trail by 36. Will the trail that surrounds Joy Park be a continuous trail looping around the lake? Staff stated that the long-term plan is to fully encircle Silver Lake. The connection to 36 is another long-term plan. Commissioner Fischer stated that this will be coming before the city council by the 25th. As a minority, we can make a recommendation to the city council to move forward with phase 1 and we can note any concerns at this time. Staff addressed parking concerns by stating that there are four or five current boat/trailer stalls and 8 standard stalls. The access drive and parking lot will be fully curbed. Phase 1 is focusing on the eastern parking lot and a future phase will focus on the western parking lot where there are currently 18 or 19 parking spots and may be increased to 30. Commissioner Fischer commented after phase one all picnic facilities on slabs will disappear for about 2 years until we bring back the area. Staff commented that the park would remain open but boat access will not be available for a period of time. Users will have advance warning. Commissioner Fischer stated by consensus it is a recommendation that the city go ahead and pursue phase one as outlined before us. 9. LION'S PARK UPDATE Dewey stated that he hopes to have an update for the commission at the September 17 meeting. He would then like to start the neighborhood park planning process for Lions Park at that time. From that point we will move forward. He will be sending the commission the park planning process. 10. LAKE LINKS TRAIL UPDATE Dewey had no update on the feasibility piece stating that hopefully by September 17 we will have some recommendations for consideration by the Park Commission. Then staff will request a recommendation that can be moved forward to Council. 11. OBSERVATIONS/DISCUSSION REGARDING DOG PARK TOUR This item was tabled until a quorum is present. Commissioner Binko received questions regarding whether environmental impact statements had been done. Ramsey County would be a good resource for that. Chair asked staff if they could check with the Ramsey County, the City of St. Paul or White Bear Lake as to whether environmental impact statements were done for their dog parks. Staff will follow up. 12. LEGACY PARK - PARK PLANNING PROCESS/UPDATE DuWayne said that this is the park with the current piece of climbing equipment; we have a budget of $70,000 for additional features. Staff would like to begin the planning process for that area. He wants to include that location on the tour. He would like to have at least one neighborhood meeting. 13. DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE PROJECT LOCATIONS FOR TOUR IN SEPTEMBER DuWayne Konewko listed parks on the tour: 1. Legacy park 2. Joy Park 3. Mississippi street area 4. Hillcrest area 5. Wakefield 6. Edgerton 7. Lions Park It was determined that the tour be from 4-7 on Wednesday, September 17. 14. DIVERSITY UPDATE DuWayne Konewko stated that Ann Hutchinson is championing community gardens; staff has identified a possible site. 15. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS none 16. ADJOURN - (9:30 P.M.) NEXT MEETING- SEPTEMBER 17TH AT 6:30/PARK PROJECT TOUR WILL BEGIN AT 7 PM